Help Elected Officials Learn about Your Library! You can invite them into your library to see first-hand all the great work you do, or schedule a meeting with them at their local office. YALSA's Legislation Committee has created some tips and resources to help libraries participate in District Days. Join & participate in the District Days group on ALA Connect.

What are District Days?

While our elected representatives are working hard in Washington DC, YALSA members and their libraries are changing lives and enhancing communities back home. Policy makers will not know all the good we do unless we tell our story. District days -- the time when our representatives are back in the home district -- present a great opportunity to get to know elected officials and to help them understand our important work.

District Days are the perfect chance for you to show off all the great things you do for teens through your library by inviting elected officials to come and visit the library. Invite them to come for a visit any time between Aug. 2 and Sept. 7, 2014.

If a library visit isn't feasible, arrange for a meeting to go visit the official in his or her local office.

Why are they Important?

Keeping advocacy efforts at the forefront right now is important in this tough economy.

Legislators are more inclined to support funding for something when they have personal knowledge about the impact the program has on their constituents. District Days offer libraries and library supporters the chance to tell their stories that illustrate the great work libraries do.

According to the Congressional Management Foundation, members of Congress said that the #1 most important activity that helps them learn about the needs of their constituents is to attend events at the local or state level.

Elected officials are looking for opportunities to attend worthwhile events in their communities.

District days offer the chance to strengthen relations with elected officials and/or their staff who may not be very familiar with the work of libraries. Depending on your needs, District Days can help to:

increase appreciation of the library’s work

garner respect for your staff’s knowledge of the community, its needs, and assets

explore what resources each of you might bring to a project

raise a concern

educate the official about a particular area of interest that you have in common

ensure the official’s understanding of a policy issue

gain a specific commitment

When are They?

In 2013 all of Congress is out of session August 5th through September 6th. This is an ideal time for librarians to do some advocacy at their libraries by opening your doors and inviting elected officials in to see what great things you’re doing. Members of Congress need to see firsthand how libraries are having a positive impact on the lives of teens, so they understand how critical it is that libraries receive support and funding from Congress.

Getting an Elected Official to Your Library

Extending the Invitation

Invite your members of Congress through their local office. To find out where that is and how to contact them, visit http://capwiz.com/ala/home/. Enter your zipcode in the box toward the lower right of the screen, and your Congressional representatives will appear on the next screen along with contact information for their local and Washington DC offices.

Give 4 - 6 weeks advance notice.

Keep it simple: invite them to something you're already doing, such as a summer reading celebration or back to school open house. Think about what event would make a good photo op for a Congressperson.

Make sure your invitation includes important details as well as information that will encourage them to visit. Briefly paint a picture of the event for them, and think about how to convey how the event will fit with the legislator's goals or priorities. Key information to include:

date/time (consider offering multiple dates/times in order to increase your chances that the Congressperson will be available)

location

description of the event

estimated size of attendance at the event

the type of audience they'll be interacting with (teens? parents? educators?)

what the Congressperson's role will be, including whether or not they will be expected to speak

some key information about your library that illustrates the reach you have into the community, such as how many patrons it serves, the total number of community members who attended a library event in the past year, the number of reference questions answered in a given year, etc.

Give elected officials an incentive to come:

Let the elected official know if there will be a chance for him or her to meet with voters and have his/her photo taken at your library.

State what media outlets you plan on inviting, such as the local TV station or newspaper.

Create a role for the Congressperson, such as the judge of a bookmark contest, or the person who gets to distribute awards to summer reading contest winners.

If the elected official has been supportive of libraries in the past, you may want to honor him or her at the event with a plaque or some other form of recognition.

Let them know a photographer will be there.

Consider having multiple people send the same invitation, especially if they are local VIPs or if they have a connection to the elected official.

After the invitation is sent, follow up in one week with a phone call if you have not received a response, or have a VIP take on this task.

Find out if they have a library card, and if not, give them one at the event.

Don't be discouraged if Congressional staff decline the invitation. Members of Congress are busy people, so it is not personal. Just remember to invite them to the next event you have, and in the mean time be sure to keep them informed about the library by adding them to your newsletter mailing list, sending them a library card, and keeping their staff up to date on library news and accomplishments by sending them articles and photos. If the elected official has children or teens, you may want to pass along lists of recommended reading, bookmarks, etc. as well.

If your elected official can't come to your event, then go to him or her. They will be spending time in their local office during Aug. and early Sept. Contact his or her office and schedule a visit. Consider bringing a teen or other library supporter with you to talk first-hand about what the library means to them.

Planning the Library Event

You don't need to create a special event just for the elected officials. It just needs to be an opportunity for the elected officials to learn a little bit about what a modern library does.

Many public libraries will be hosting culminating events for their summer reading programs, so YALSA encourages you to incorporate an advocacy effort into what you’re already doing. You can invite Congresspersons to be guests or speakers at these events, or if your library is having some sort of contest, the Congresspersons could be judges.

School libraries are encouraged to participate in District Days as well. Invite your Congressperson to an open house of your library, or ask him or her to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help you get the library open and ready for the new school year!

Market the event aggressively to ensure a good turn out. A crowded library will help emphasize the important role libraries play in the community.

Designate a member of the staff or a volunteer to take photos on the day of the event

Create a take-away folder or packet for the elected official. It can include recent newspaper articles about library activities, photos, a fact sheet about the library, a list of upcoming events, your business card and more. You may also want to include advocacy resources, such as YALSA's Teens Need Libraries brochure. You can download and copy the brochure, or ask for hard copies by contacting YALSA's office.

State Fact Sheets (state by state guides with information about how LSTA and Improving Literacy Through School Libraries funds have been used in each state)

Notify the media a week in advance

Draft a thank you message to send out after the event

Follow Up

send a thank you

send photos you took of the Congressperson to him/her

evaluate the event: What went well? What could have gone better?

write a post for the library's blog or an article for the newsletter summing up the event. When it's published, send it to the Congressperson's local office.

Visiting Your Official's Local Office

To find out where your legislator's local office is and how to contact them, visit http://capwiz.com/ala/home/. Enter your zipcode in the box toward the lower right of the screen, and your Congressional representatives will appear on the next screen along with contact information for their local and Washington DC offices.

The YALSA Legislative Advocacy Guide has a whole section with information about how to request a meeting, what to say, etc. It is possible to meet with the elected official, but a meeting with his or her staff is also effective.

District days offer the chance to strengthen relations with elected officials and/or their staff who may not be very familiar with the work of libraries.